Formulas for shear correction factor are found in the following references: – Schramm, U., Kitis, L., Kang, W., and Pilkey, W.D., “On the Shear Deformation Coefficient in Beam Theory”, Finite Elem in Analysis and Design, Vol. 16, 1994 – Walter Pilkey, Formulas for Stress, Strain and structural matrices, John Wiley, 1994 ANSYS determines the shear flow, and then equates the energy calculated in terms of forces-section strains to shear-stresses and shear strains. BEAM188/BEAM189 do not use higher order theories to account for variation in distribution of shear stresses. Use ANSYS solid elements if such effects must be considered. If users want a different calculation, they can use SECCONTROLS to overwrite program calculated values.